Recent content by Tolak

Yes, it's why really old tanks had slate bottoms, for little oil burners under them. Well before my time, but I've had several old timers confirm this. There's still old slate bottom tanks around, they weigh a whole lot more than glass bottom tanks.

Fast them for a day, bag them with half tank water, half tap water with a 4x dose of Prime. This will effectively give them a 50% water change with a double dose of Prime in the bag. Put the bags in a cooler to maintain temperature, as long as you don't keep the cooler outdoors they'll be good...

Put a rock on the top. I prefer thicker gray slate, it matches. I run a double sponge & floss, at one time they didn't sell these filters with the Bio Max. Worked just fine without it, the sponges hold nitrifying bacteria as well as a sponge filter does.

Allied Precision Bucket Heater at Blain's Farm & Fleet I run one in a 150 gallon tub outdoors in Chicago. It extends my outdoor aquatic fun from April well into September. I run it with a heat controller, start with a few trios of platys in spring & have hundreds by fall. It will heat...

This is the consensus of anyone involved with ethical animal husbandry, regardless of the species.

Aww I was hoping for the faster pump being into hardware type of things! A typo is as good a reason as any for a pump upgrade!

You've either got a faster pump, or a slow clock, 50 gallons in 5 minutes is 600 gph. With a 3/4" hose I can pull out 5gpm, good enough for water changes. To drain tanks down I drop in the 1400gph pump that usually sits in my waste water tub. Pumps & hoses are the way to go if you need to...

For the casual fishkeeper go with a 29 or better for angels. Sure, breeders do pairs in 20 highs, bare tanks, with tanks & gear for a backup. Most people not into the breeding end are lucky to have a half baked plan B, and are less familiar with behavior that would require some intervention...

And you never know where it can lead, we've all started in the same place more or less!

It states it can. Not will. As I stated, I'm looking for a link from over 10 years back, that's the closest I can find. From personal experience 82F poses no problem with metro, though as is wise with any tank with an increased temperature there's plenty of surface motion, thus water motion...

You need to crank the tank temperature, at least 84F, higher if they can tolerate it. 40mg/gallon metro with a daily 50% water change & redose, 10-14 days. This is more common with cichlids, especially discus & angels. Dealing with angels quite a bit metro is one of the few meds I keep on...

Sure, plenty of folks with bare tanks do that, provided you have the lights for plants. I'm too cheap in the light department.

Supreme AP-20 Air Pump Easily run 20 devices off of this. One sponge filter in a 20 is plenty for fry, I do it for smaller ones all the time. It also leaves you a few extra lines, BBS hatchery & such is something to think about. Distribution depends on how close the tanks will be to each...

Another thumbs up for air driven filtration. I run sponges for fry, a sponge & box combo for juvies & adults. Run enough air to a large box filter loaded with floss & it will filter as well as any of the HOB or canister filters on the market, a larger pump will easily do this. If you...

How are you feeding or what product are you using to feed the metro? Are you adding any to the water? What temperature is the tank during treatment?